Living in Orange County, CA

Just when it seems things couldn't get any more boring, enter Orange County, CA. If you've been here to this place, you probably have a good idea what I am talking about.

Many would like to think that a place that is home to about 4 million residents would be more affluent and interesting. Is it not a shame when the stones are turned and we discover that sometimes things aren't always what they seem to be.

Sometimes Things that seem glitzy are more on the dull side. Here is a picture of the beautiful Orange County, California. The hidden side of the city is that it is so expensive that many of its inhabitants are forced to live on the streets.

What seem like normal people, people that would otherwise be successful if not at least average citizens...are reduced down to some of there barest modern day "needs" such as backpacks, headphones, bicycles.

The problem is the artificial cost of housing. When we talk about the housing crisis, we are probably talking about the mortgage crisis and the homeowners who are losing their homes, but what we fail to acknowledge all the people who are priced out of the rental market as well and are forced to live homeless.

We must ask ourselves, what is the solution? How do large cities and highly competitive housing markets deal with homelessness? Or is there any way?

No child educated socially

It appears that most of the teaching industry is rife with trouble over the program put forth by the Bush administration. No child left behind!

It clearly smacks of the same arrogance that goes along with the the administrations reasons for war.

When we see teacher after teacher and even high ranking administrative officials disagreeing deeply with the regiment put into place since Bush has taken office, we should be able to say that this is wrong. We should see the office result of such a bland, score oriented format.

It is clear that what George Bush had in mind was education in the same "talking point" format that his administration is so well known for. When you hear the same phraseology repeated over and over, like "evil doers, pockets of resistance, a surge", you are being conditioned. The public is being conditioned. It's fear conditioning.

It is difficult to get into the psyche of the adult...since adults tend to feel like they've seen it all. But deep down inside, as adults, we probably are aware of most everything around us and in many cases we pick up on subtle things. That's why talking points work so well with politics and public speakers.

A teacher in a school however is not a public speaker. They are teachers...they are they're to help us improve the listening skills of the children. Not to drill them with 5 talking points and a stringent quiz. Kids are not machines, they are simply made into machines after years of being taught in a very elitist fashion which does not recognize the needier of the students who do not have nearly as much opportunity as some of their peers.

no child left behind, bush education plan, george bush education law, bush no child left behind

Truth about marijuana

Grocery store chains across America have a similar method of operation. Notice that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is synonymous with our shopping patterns.

We go to the grocery store to get the food and the drugs. That is why there is always a pharmacy inside the grocery store.

THEY SELL THE FOOD THAT MAKES YOU DEPENDENT ON THE DRUGS!

Essentially, much of our illness is surely caused by our diets alone.

It is a simple fact! Americans and the world consume tons of sugar and fat laden consumable products and probably always will.

What is interesting to note is that marijuana is so easily grown and harvested and it would possibly deplete much of the pharmaceutical sales associated with frivolous ailments and aches.

Marijuana also poses a threat to alcohol and tobacco sales which are obviously big money.

Marijuana is so easily grown and harvested that, even when legalized, many people simply opt to grow it and get it from friends than to buy it from a retail source...and so this is not nearly as profitable as say alcohol and tobacco which boast far more heavily addicted, habitual users than hemp or marijuana.

In fact, the only way for marijuana to be profitable is for it to be illegal.

When pot is illegal, people become much more afraid of possessing LARGE QUANTITIES and dealing it.

Therefore it is only distributed through certain channels.

Some things are only profitable on the black market.

Street price for an 8th of an ounce of high grade marijuana in California for example is usually about $50.

Now imagine if it was legal to grow and possess!

Do you think that you could get $50 for only 3 1/2 grams of marijuana then? I doubt it!

My guess is that most people that want to have the "drug" regularly, would simply grow their own and therefor the price would be much lower when sold on the market.

On the other hand, when it's illegal, most people are afraid to grow their own for fear of being caught and so they have to buy it and pay hefty prices.

And so the the people who sell marijuana.....the people at the top of the supply chain...they don't want marijuana legalized...and so they surely must be working with the politicians of Americas federal and/or state government.

What other reasonable answer is there?

pot smoke, hemp, cannabis, About marijuana

Anger management control issue

If you have ever known someone with an anger control problem, then you know what I'm talking about.

The type of person I'm talking about with anger control problems will tend to raise their voice, not give rational responses, secretive, evasive and controlling.

The type of person who uses tantrums and fits to get their way.

With these personality types, it is best to be patient since these are usually volatile people with short fuses. They can be in a good mood one minute and totally belligerent the next.

Is this a bi polar behavior trait?

It is these intense mood swings that can devastate the potentially high quality of life that one have.

bi polar disorder, controlling anger, anger management

Ongoing war - 1984 revisited

If George Orwells' book isn't enough, then all we have to do is look at reality to see how much of a similarity there is to the regarded writers fiction rantings.

It would seem very clearly that we are seeing facets of our daily lives turning to automation.

For some people in the high priced cities, the world is becoming more Orwellian each moment.

For example:

-Lighting and cameras leave fewer and fewer spaces safe from the prying eyes of the government

-Authentic products and services are becoming more and more of commodities

-We are constantly being fooled by marketers trying to make us believe we are getting more when we are in fact getting less.

-War is an ongoing process which seems to have no end

-It seems as though Americans are being desensitized with the prospects of war with other countries. By focusing our attention of new, scarier threats, we become more and more comfortable with the actual threats and wars that currently exist.

-A depressed economy creates more competition in the market causing production to actually rebound for major companies. People actually act happier with their jobs as despotism, fascism and economic recession set it.

-History is constantly being amended by big name publishers who control the mindset of the largest portions of American.

It is interesting to see where some of our most fundamental thinking comes from including religion, science, history and linguistics.

Addicted to picture rating sites

Do you like to rate photos online?

Then you will no doubt remember many of the major photo rating websites.

The problem is this type of web surfing is pointless and can be very much a waste of time.

It quite clear that the internet has become somewhat of a drug for many of tech surfer.

In fact, whether you are tech or not, you may find your connection to the internet is actually vital for many of the conveniences we take advantage of today albeit still unheard of to many, it serves as mainstream shopping, research, networking and much more for many Americans.

The internet has altered our world and it makes you wonder if this same technology could have been discovered or implemented at other times at other parts of the universe.

The problems with Starbucks

Coffee shops - Doesn't it drive you nuts when you want to find a comfortable wi-fi spot to work from and so you sign up for a T Mobile hot spot account for say $30-40 a month.

You expect to able to use your wireless computer as needed at a participating Starbucks or Kinkos location, however.....

when you get inside the coffee shop...many times, there are no isolated areas that you can sit away from the crowds and the shop keepers keep the temperatures very low at many times.

I know it is a part of company policy to freeze out customers who like to relax a little longer than the commercially viable hang out time of say 17 minutes or whatever is optimal for profit...but hey if thats the case, maybe that and considering the price of any drink in Starbucks...they should offer their wi fi service free of charge or at least a much lower fee.

Lets be competitive here.

Ive noticed while in Orange County CA, the only place to get a reasonable wi fi connection is at a grocery store.

I though we were moving into a techno age where we be able to access information more freely and knowledge would be more in the public domain, but rather you get a series of swindlers trying to make a buck using erroneous or under studied information or they are extremely anti free use about any proprietary information.